title: Plasmablastic lymphoma: a review.
abstract: Plasmablastic lymphoma (PBL) has been recently characterised as an aggressive subtype of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, most frequently arising in the oral cavity of HIV-infected patients. To date, approximately 60 cases fulfilling the clinico-pathological characteristics of PBL have been reported. PBLs are composed of large cells with eccentrically located nuclei and deeply basophilic cytoplasm with a paranuclear hof. The tumour cells are invariably immunoreactive for the plasma cell marker CD138, and show monoclonal rearrangement of the immunoglobulin heavy chain gene (IgH) and/or clonal restriction of the Ig light chain (IgL) gene expression in most of the cases. Similar to other types of AIDS-related lymphomas, there is evidence that Epstein-Barr virus and Kaposi-sarcoma associated Human Herpes Virus 8 may play a relevant role in the pathogenesis of PBL. PBL patients have been treated heterogeneously, with a combination of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and/or surgery, and their prognosis is usually poor, with a death rate of approximately 60% at 1 year.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, European Institute of Oncology and University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rafaniello Raviele
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pruneri
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Maiorano
mesh_terms: D020031:Epstein-Barr Virus Infections / Q000821:virology; D015321:Gene Rearrangement / Q000235:genetics; D050438:Genes, Immunoglobulin Heavy Chain / Q000235:genetics; D050439:Genes, Immunoglobulin Light Chain / Q000235:genetics; D019288:Herpesvirus 8, Human / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D016483:Lymphoma, AIDS-Related / Q000473:pathology*; D016403:Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse / Q000473:pathology*; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D012514:Sarcoma, Kaposi / Q000821:virology; D053668:Syndecan-1 / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: C508241:SDC1 protein, human; D053668:Syndecan-1